No. 6 Mississippi State Hosts Tennessee Tech in NCAA Tournament First Round

Friday, May 1

1 p.m.

Mississippi State

Tennessee Tech

No. 6 Mississippi State Hosts Tennessee Tech in NCAA Tournament First Round

April 30, 2026 | Men's Tennis

By: Tad Couch, Mississippi State Athletic Communications Student Intern

Friday, May 1 at 1 p.m. CT
Starkville, Miss | A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Match 27
No. 6 Mississippi State (1) vs Tennessee Tech (4)

STARKVILLE – No. 6 Mississippi State begins its NCAA Tournament run Friday as the No. 5 national seed, welcoming Tennessee Tech to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre for the opening round of the Starkville Regional.

The top-seeded Bulldogs will face the fourth-seeded Golden Eagles at 1 p.m., following a 10 a.m. matchup between No. 2 seed Wisconsin and No. 3 seed Samford. Friday's winners will return to the courts Saturday at 1 p.m., with a trip to the NCAA Round of 16 at stake.

Mississippi State enters the postseason riding the momentum of a historic campaign. The Bulldogs have totaled 22 victories, matching the fifth-highest single-season mark in program history, and their 11 conference wins are among the best ever recorded in SEC play. It also marks the program's 15th consecutive NCAA appearance, a stretch that underscores one of the most consistent runs in college tennis and the 34th trip overall.

Starkville has become a postseason mainstay. This weekend marks the eighth time the Bulldogs have hosted the opening rounds and the fourth year in a row they have done so. Mississippi State has turned that home-court advantage into deep tournament success, advancing to at least the Round of 16 in each of the last three seasons, including a quarterfinal breakthrough last year that matched the program's deepest run since 2018.

Tennessee Tech (16-7) earned its spot by capturing the Horizon League title, knocking off Youngstown State in the championship match. While the Golden Eagles have yet to secure a win over a ranked opponent this season (0-5), they bring confidence from a nine-match winning streak entering the tournament.

The all-time series heavily favors Mississippi State, which owns a 9-1 advantage, including an unblemished 7-0 record against Tennessee Tech during the Matt Roberts era. The Bulldogs have also been dominant in Starkville, winning eight of nine meetings on their home courts.

Mississippi State's lineup features one of the nation's most decorated players in SEC Player of the Year Benito Sanchez Martinez, who anchors the top of the lineup alongside First Team All-SEC selection Petar Jovanovic. Depth has been a defining trait for the Bulldogs, with Mario Martinez Serrano and Niccolo Baroni earning Second Team All-SEC honors and contributing to a roster capable of winning across all courts.

Mississippi State Notes
• Benito Sanchez Martinez was named SEC Player of the Year, the first Bulldog to win the award since Nuno Borges.
• Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez were named 1^st Team All-SEC
• Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano earned 2^nd Team All-SEC honors
• Petar Jovanovic set the all-time program wins record and currently sits at 200 wins all-time.
• Head Coach Matt Roberts holds the record for most wins in program history with 234 wins at the helm.
• Sanchez Martinez has played 44 consecutive singles matches on court one.
• The Bulldogs picked up their first top-five victory of the season defeating No. 4 Stanford 4-3 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
• All of Mississippi States's conference victories have been over ranked opponents
• Mississippi State opened the 2026 season with four consecutive road wins before returning home to beat Santa Clara and Auburn at the ITA Kickoff Weekend to secure a birth in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
• The Bulldogs are above .500 at every singles position.
• Five Bulldogs are ranked in the ITA singles rankings, led by Sanchez Martinez at No. 7, the second highest-ranked player in the SEC.
• Seniors Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez return as ITA Doubles All-Americans, while Jovanovic also earned ITA Singles All-American honors after reaching the NCAA Individual Championships quarterfinals.
• Mississippi State posted 25 wins in 2025, tying the 1979 team for the most single-season victories in program history.
• In 2025, Benito Sanchez Martinez set single-season program records for dual-match wins in both singles and doubles.
• Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez are the winningest doubles pair in program history, surpassing Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic.
• The Bulldogs return eight letterwinners from last season's NCAA quarterfinal squad.
• Mississippi State is in its 102nd season as a program, with an all-time record of 1,129-649-8.

Mississippi State Record Book Watch
• Jovanovic has 93 career doubles wins, tying him for second-most all-time. He sits four wins away from Laurent Miquelard's (1992-95) total of 97.
• Jovanovic currently has 63 career dual match doubles wins. He is just two wins away from breaking Ramskogler's total for the for the most all-time.
• Jovanovic is now 4^th all-time in career singles wins with 107 and 4^th all-time in dual singles wins with 67.
• Benito Sanchez Martinez is 2^nd all-time in career dual singles wins with 74, seven behind Nuno Borges' tally of 81.
• Benito Sanchez Martinez is 3rd all-time in career wins with 183, six behind Nuno Borges' with 189.

Mississippi State in the ITA Rankings

Team Ranking – 6th

Singles
No. 7 – Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 9 – Petar Jovanovic
No. 84 – Niccolo Baroni
No. 91 – Mario Martinez Serrano
No. 123 – Bryan Hernandez Cortes

Doubles

No. 6 - Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanchez Martinez
No. 77 - Michal Novansky and Benito Sanchez Martinez

Series History vs. Tennessee Tech
• Mississippi State is 9-1 all-time versus Tenneessee Tech
• In the Matt Roberts era, the Dawgs are 7-0 against the Golden Eagles
• The Bulldogs hold a 8-1 advantage all-time in Starkville

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